It's not the pace of life that bothers me. It's the sudden stop in the end.
While most of us are celebrating the birth of Christ, there are others for which this season brings back sad memories. Death happens all 12 months of the year; when it happens close to Christmas, it just changes the mood, every year.
There is a 600-pound gorilla in the room I've been pretending to ignore. (It's a metaphor, guys.) A business colleague and friend passed away recently, rather suddenly. I was saddened, and I kept on writing here every day.
My friend had suffered for a long time, but didn't let anyone know. She just kept on working on her two advocacies - saving dogs and helping the hard of hearing. Days after she passed, just last night, I found out her secret and her courage to bear the pain of dying.
As we age, we will see more of our friends and family members, including ourselves, go through the trials of health.
My sister wrote me that her Christmas wish was to see a cure for cancer. It has surely taken many of our relatives. We recall how difficult it was for them to take the news, and then to watch it take its toll. We have also had relatives, including my brother, survive cancer; and we are thankful for the extra lease on life.
Why would the good Lord create such a devastating anomalies that we should succumb to, and that the surviving relatives and friends would bear? Someone said cancer is a way to look back at one's life, and to have time to say goodbye. Statistics still show that highest cancer deaths occur at old age. The body's cells stop regenerating properly. What we call dying of old age is likely a cancer-related death.
There are too many parameters to say what we should wish for this or that. Living forever is boring. I can't really wish for a cure for old age... that is part of God's plan to provide fullness and closure in this life. All I can wish for really is to save the little children so that we can benefit from their freshness and promise.
I can also wish for those facing the inevitable - that their final journey is rich and full of love. And I wish for solace for those left behind, and that they cherish all the positive memories of their loved ones every day.
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